They will have it that virtually the whole of the apocalypse was fulfilled by A.D. 70 with the invading Roman armies and the fall of Jerusalem, while others have it that the promised return happened with the fall of Rome A.D. 476!
Jesus made it plain that not one iota of the Law or the prophets (prophetic fulfillment) would pass away until everything in both was completed/fulfilled.
17 “Do not presume that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. 18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not [a]the smallest letter or stroke of a letter shall pass from the Law, until all is accomplished!
What is the case after AD 70?
1. No more priesthood to apply the atonement of sin or mediate between the people and God.
2. No more animal sacrifices.
3. No more temple.
4. No more city of God.
5. No more feast days.
6. No more genealogical records (destroyed with the temple).
7. The people were taken captive and dispersed to all corners of the known world.
8. The possibility of fulfilling the OT prophecies about the Messiah, promised to the covenant people, vanished after AD 70. That is because it is already fulfilled. The Messiah came and fulfilled all OT prophecies that up to the time of His coming still lacked fulfillment completing the list in AD 70.
What was said of the
new covenant between God and His people is now established forever. It is sealed in the blood atonement of the Messiah, a one-time sacrifice for all time, sufficient so that no other atonement is necessary!
Jeremiah 31:31-34 (NASB)
31 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. 33 “For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord: “I will put My law within them and write it on their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 They will not teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their wrongdoing, and their sin I will no longer remember.”
Happened under the Lord Jesus Christ. He was the atonement needed. (
Hebrews 9:23-28)
Brother, if Revelation and Matthew 24:7 and Luke 21:11 are ever to fit a time and place in human history then today would be that time. IMHO.
The 1st-century meets all the requirements of these verses.
Matthew 24:7 (NASB)
7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
Luke 21:11 (NASB)
11 and there will be [a]massive earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrible sights and great [b]signs from heaven.
These signs were all noted by your friend, Josephus as being fulfilled up to and during the siege on Jerusalem in AD 70. Note the title of his writing, The Wars of the Jews.
In the Preface of The Wars of the Jews, he said this:
PREFACE
1. 1 Whereas the war which the Jews made with the Romans hath been the greatest of all those, not only that have been in our times, but, in a manner, of those that ever were heard of; both of those wherein cities have fought against cities, or nations against nations; while some men who were not concerned in the affairs themselves have gotten together vain and contradictory stories by hearsay, and have written them down after a sophistical manner; and while those that were there present have given false accounts of things, and this either out of a humor of flattery to the Romans, or of hatred towards the Jews; and while their writings contain sometimes accusations, and sometimes encomiums, but no where the accurate truth of the facts; I have proposed to myself, for the sake of such as live under the government of the Romans, to translate those books into the Greek tongue, which I formerly composed in the language of our country, and sent to the Upper Barbarians; 2 Joseph, the son of Matthias, by birth a Hebrew, a priest also, and one who at first fought against the Romans myself, and was forced to be present at what was done afterwards, [am the author of this work].
4. However, I will not go to the other extreme, out of opposition to those men who extol the Romans nor will I determine to raise the actions of my countrymen too high; but I will prosecute the actions of both parties with accuracy. Yet shall I suit my language to the passions I am under, as to the affairs I describe, and must be allowed to indulge some lamentations upon the miseries undergone by my own country. For that it was a seditious temper of our own that destroyed it, and that they were the tyrants among the Jews who brought the Roman power upon us, who unwillingly attacked us, and occasioned the burning of our holy temple, Titus Caesar, who destroyed it, is himself a witness, who, during the entire war, pitied the people who were kept under by the seditious, and did often voluntarily delay the taking of the city, and allowed time to the siege, in order to let the authors have opportunity for repentance. But if any one makes an unjust accusation against us, when we speak so passionately about the tyrants, or the robbers, or sorely bewail the misfortunes of our country, let him indulge my affections herein, though it be contrary to the rules for writing history; because it had so come to pass, that our city Jerusalem had arrived at a higher degree of felicity than any other city under the Roman government, and yet at last fell into the sorest of calamities again. Accordingly, it appears to me that the misfortunes of all men, from the beginning of the world, if they be compared to these of the Jews 3 are not so considerable as they were; while the authors of them were not foreigners neither. This makes it impossible for me to contain my lamentations. But if any one be inflexible in his censures of me, let him attribute the facts themselves to the historical part, and the lamentations to the writer himself only.
Sound familiar?
For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will again.
Again, Matthew 24 describes the signs to look for before Jesus' Second Coming. I could go through each one and show you where Josephus makes note of it, but that would take a lot of time.
Preface continued:
11. After this, I shall relate the barbarity of the tyrants towards the people of their own nation, as well as the indulgence of the Romans in sparing foreigners; and how often Titus, out of his desire to preserve the city and the temple, invited the seditious to come to terms of accommodation. I shall also distinguish the sufferings of the people, and their calamities; how far they were afflicted by the sedition, and how far by the famine, and at length were taken. Nor shall I omit to mention the misfortunes of the deserters, nor the punishments inflicted on the captives; as also how the temple was burnt, against the consent of Caesar; and how many sacred things that had been laid up in the temple were snatched out of the fire; the destruction also of the entire city, with the signs and wonders that went before it; and the taking the tyrants captives, and the multitude of those that were made slaves, and into what different misfortunes they were every one distributed. Moreover, what the Romans did to the remains of the wall; and how they demolished the strong holds that were in the country; and how Titus went over the whole country, and settled its affairs; together with his return into Italy, and his triumph.
The evidence is in my favour, not yours. Your knowledge of Scripture and what went on is proving to be paltry.
